# precept
## English
### Alternative forms

* præcept (archaic)

### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin praeceptum, form of praecipiō (“to teach”), from Latin prae (“pre-”) + capiō (“take”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpɹiːsɛpt/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːsɛpt

### Noun

precept (plural precepts)
* A rule or principle, especially one governing personal conduct.
    Precept guides, but example draws.
** 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2:By Heav’ns, ſuch Virtues, join’d with ſuch Succeſs, Diſtract my very Soul: Our Father’s Fortune Wou’d almoſt tempt us to renounce his Precepts.
** 1891, Susan Hale, Mexico (The Story of the Nations), volume 27, London: T. Fisher Unwin, page 80:He found a people in the extreme of barbarism living in caves, feeding upon the bloody flesh of animals they killed in hunting; he taught them many things, so that by his example, and for generations after he left them by his precepts, they advanced to high civilization.
** 2006, Theodore Dalrymple, The Gift of Language‎:I need hardly point out that Pinker doesn't really believe anything of what he writes, at least if example is stronger evidence of belief than precept.
* (law) A written command, especially a demand for payment.
* (UK) An order issued by one local authority to another specifying the rate of tax to be charged on its behalf.
** A rate or tax set by a precept.
*** The Parish Council is financed by raising a small levy - the precept - on all residential properties within the parish.

#### Translations
### Verb

precept (third-person singular simple present precepts, present participle precepting, simple past and past participle precepted)
* (intransitive, chiefly US, medicine) To act as a preceptor; to teach a physician-in-training by supervising their clinical practice.
* (transitive, obsolete) To teach (something) by precepts.
** 1603 (date written), [Francis] Bacon, “Valerius Terminus: Of the Interpretation of Nature; with the Annotations of Hermes Stella. Chapter XI. The Chapter Immediately Following the Inventary; Being the 11th in Order, a Part thereof.”, in Robert Stephens, compiler, edited by [John Lockyer], Letters and Remains of the Lord Chancellor Bacon, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, published 1734, →OCLC, page 411:[T]he tvvo commended rules by him [Aristotle] ſet down, vvhereby the axioms of Sciences are precepted to be made convertible, and vvhich the latter men have not vvithout elegancy ſurnamed; the one the rule of truth, becauſe it preventeth deceipt; the other the rule of prudence, becauſe it freeth election, are the ſame thing in ſpeculation and affirmation, vvhich vve novv obſerve.

### Further reading

* “precept, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

### Anagrams

* percept

## Old Irish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin praeceptum, form of praecipiō (“to teach”), from prae (“pre-”) + capiō (“take”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpʲrʲeɡʲept/

### Noun

precept f (genitive precepte)
* verbal noun of pridchaid
For quotations using this term, see Citations:precept.

#### Inflection

Feminine ā-stem :
| | Singular | Dual | Plural |
| Nominative | precept$^L$ | precept$^L$, preceupt | precepta$^H$ |
| Vocative | precept$^L$ | precept$^L$, preceupt | precepta$^H$ |
| Accusative | precept$^N$, preceupt | precept$^L$, preceupt | precepta$^H$ |
| Genitive | precepte$^H$, preceptae | precept$^L$ | precept$^N$ |
| Dative | precept$^L$, preceupt | preceptaib | preceptaib |
| Initial mutations of a following adjective: $^H$ = triggers aspiration $^L$ = triggers lenition $^N$ = triggers nasalization ||||

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### Further reading

* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “precept”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French précepte, from Latin praeceptum.

### Noun

precept n (plural precepte)
* precept